Today is Friday, June 24th.
Just yesterday, after a new round of voting, the Writers Guild of America once again rejected the new contract proposed by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, meaning that the Hollywood writers' strike, which has lasted three and a half months, will continue.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers represents more than 350 film and television entertainment production and distribution companies in the United States, centred around the seven major Hollywood studios and four major broadcast networks, but it ultimately cannot represent all of them.
Due to the prolonged strike, many second and third-tier small production companies chose to sign the contract requested by the Writers Guild in advance, starting last month, including some members who defected from the Producers Alliance.
As the strike continues, a lose-lose situation has fully materialized.
Many people predicted that the Producers Alliance would "settle accounts" with the compromising production companies, and Simon even 'remembered' the actual progress of the events.
However, standing at the door of an audition room in Daenerys Entertainment's headquarters, Simon heard the sudden news from Amy and couldn't help but show a wry smile, tentatively asking, "The Producers Alliance didn't mention 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' in their announcement, did they?"
Simon is neither a member of the Writers Guild, nor has Daenerys Entertainment temporarily joined the Producers Alliance.
Throughout this entire strike, Simon had originally intended to simply observe from the sidelines.
However, a popular reality show like 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?', which doesn't require writers, means that Daenerys Entertainment will find it difficult to remain uninvolved.
Feeling Simon's hopeful gaze, Amy regretfully shook her head, also showing a wry smile, and said, "It was mentioned".
Jonathan Friedman and the other two, after hearing a few snippets of Simon and Amy's conversation, roughly understood what was happening and discreetly moved away.
Simon returned to the audition table and sat down, frowning in thought.
Before the strike, because he refused to join the Writers Guild, Simon's scripts from last year were completely ignored by the WGA, resulting in no awards during award season, which wasn't a big deal.
But now, the "war" between the Writers Guild and the Producers Alliance has entered a white-hot stage.
Daenerys Entertainment's introduction of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?', a hit show that can completely bypass writers, is tantamount to handing the Producers Alliance a 'nuclear weapon' capable of deciding the outcome of the war.
Moreover, Daenerys Entertainment has more than just this one such nuclear weapon in its arsenal.
The Writers Guild once again rejected the Producers Alliance's contract yesterday, and 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' coincidentally achieved an excellent viewership of 17.3 million last night.
The Producers Alliance immediately announced a ban today, specifically highlighting 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?', a sharp counterattack.
It's not hard to imagine that in the upcoming stalemate and negotiations, the Writers Guild, already at the end of its rope, will certainly not have any advantage.
Daenerys Entertainment has completely offended the Writers Guild.
The Writers Guild and production companies are fundamentally in an employer-employee relationship.
While the Producers Alliance can blacklist production companies that sign contracts with the WGA in advance, the Writers Guild cannot, in turn, blacklist Daenerys Entertainment without a clear reason, and reality shows like 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' clearly do not constitute such a reason.
However, the Writers Guild will certainly cause trouble for Daenerys Entertainment whenever they get the chance in the future.
Most directly, it will become very difficult for Daenerys Entertainment's films to win awards like Best Screenplay at the Oscars.
It can be said that in the war between the Producers Alliance and the Writers Guild, Daenerys Entertainment, caught in the crossfire, both profited and suffered.
After Amy closed the door and came over to sit down, Simon had already decided to deal with problems as they arose.
He couldn't possibly side with the Writers Guild now, as that would be even less beneficial for Daenerys Entertainment.
Thinking this, Simon looked up and asked Amy, "How are the talks with Daniel Burke and those guys going?"
Amy shook her head and said, "ABC rejected our offer of 2 million per episode, only offering 1 million dollars".
Based on 20 million viewers, in the 1980s, a 30-second commercial for such a show during a popular autumn prime-time slot would cost around 200,000 dollars.
'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' is a one-hour program, but the actual content is only 45 minutes, with the remaining 15 minutes dedicated to commercials.
Calculated this way, the commercial revenue from each episode of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' could reach 6 million dollars.
The cost of operating a national television network is very high.
Among the more than two hundred affiliated television stations in North America, ABC itself does not own many stations.
A large number of affiliated stations rebroadcast network programs during the most prime time every evening, just as movie theatres distribute studio films, and they certainly need to share sufficient profits.
Coupled with the network's operating expenses and program acquisition costs, the actual revenue that the television network can obtain is not much.
Taking 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' as an example, with an estimated 6 million dollars in advertising fees per episode, the network's own operating expenses and the share for affiliated stations would account for 50%, and the remaining 50% would be the portion of revenue that the network and the production company could share.
Out of 3 million dollars in shared revenue, Daenerys Entertainment taking 2 million dollars is actually very reasonable.
After all, theoretically, Daenerys Entertainment also has to bear the production costs of the show.
However, in reality, ABC finds it difficult to accept Daenerys Entertainment taking so much.
It's important to note that 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' is not one of those ordinary 23-episode, one-hour fall season shows.
If there were only 23 episodes per season, at 2 million dollars per episode, Daenerys Entertainment would only receive a total of 46 million dollars, and after deducting theoretical production costs, Daenerys Entertainment's net profit would be even lower.
But. based on the initial contract, each season of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' would have 69 episodes, which is three times the number of episodes of an ordinary one-hour TV series.
At 2 million dollars per episode, Daenerys Entertainment's total revenue would surge to 138 million dollars.
Let's talk about costs.
According to initial estimates, the production cost for each season of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' was around 20 million dollars.
However, Daenerys Entertainment also controlled the right to product placement within the show, such as the host mentioning a string of brand names and bottles and cans on the guests' desks.
ABC proactively relinquished this portion of revenue to allow Daenerys Entertainment to offset some of the production costs.
However, with the current popularity of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?', countless brands are willing to pay a high price for sponsorship.
Going forward, this portion of revenue alone will be enough to offset all production costs of the show and generate a surplus.
Daenerys Entertainment selling the show to ABC, no matter how much they receive per episode, is equivalent to pure profit.
ABC clearly finds it difficult to accept that the show's producer earns more than double their own profit.
Simon looked at Amy's expression and noticed that his female executive also seemed to find it hard to accept their company earning more than ABC.
So he smiled and asked, "Amy, how much do you think we can negotiate for?"
"1.5 million dollars, I guess", Amy noticed the smile on Simon's face, feeling inexplicably a little uneasy, but still stated her ideal price, adding, "The company has recently received sponsorship invitations from many companies such as AT&T, Mars, HP, and IBM. Mars alone has offered 20 million dollars, requesting to be the main sponsor of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'".
For ABC, $1.5 million per episode, with everyone sharing the profits equally, this should be the best outcome".
Simon was noncommittal and said, "What about the others?"
Amy said, "ABC also requested to revise the contract. They hope to participate in the production of the show. Additionally, they want to order more episodes and start broadcasting officially in July.
However, I don't think this is a good idea. A concentrated release of too many episodes in a short period will quickly lead to audience fatigue and shorten the show's lifespan. Therefore, I believe one season per year is already sufficient. Maintaining a six-month hiatus in between can help keep the audience engaged as much as possible".
In Simon's memory, ABC network broadcasted this show continuously throughout the year without restraint, even increasing it to 4 episodes per week.
As a result, 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' exhausted all its potential in just a few years and was surpassed by 'Survivor'.
In contrast, 'Survivor', with its better-controlled pace, enjoyed a screen life of over ten years.
Therefore, Simon strongly agreed with Amy's point of view: "Your idea is correct, Amy. Rushing to produce more shows might bring us huge profits in the short term, but it will be difficult to sustain in the long run. So, we will stick to this point; there is no room for negotiation".
Amy nodded, then continued, "Also, ABC also wants to acquire 'Survivor'".
"'Survivor' is out of the question for them, and 'Big Brother' is also out of the question for them," Simon rejected without hesitation, saying, "If they still want more, then it's only 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'. By the way, have you selected the housewives yet?"
Compared to his focus on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' and 'Survivor', Simon merely wrote a simple project proposal for 'Big Brother' and 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' and handed it over to the television production department to develop.
He hadn't had much free time to attend to this matter recently.
When Amy heard Simon's question, a subtle look flashed across her face, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
She said, "Originally, not many people signed up, but after 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' premiered, many people have called in the past few days wanting to participate. However, the final candidates have not yet been decided. How about the company organizes a party, and you personally select them?"
Simon leaned closer to Amy and whispered, "Will their husbands be attending?"
Amy clearly rolled her eyes and said, "Boss, if there's nothing else, I need to get to work".
"Alright, just kidding", Simon sat back up, his expression turning serious, and said, "Amy, there's no law that says we can't earn more than the network. So, 2 million dollars per episode, we won't negotiate on this either. ABC can earn 1 million dollars from each episode, which already exceeds the profit most of this network's programs can provide.
Most importantly, 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' can also improve ABC's overall viewership, which is actually more significant for the network, and they must be aware of this. So, 2 million dollars per episode, no discussion. If ABC disagrees, then we'll put the project on hold".
Amy's lips moved, but she still nodded and said, "Then, Simon, what about 'Survivor' and 'Big Brother'?"
Amy clearly had no interest in indulging Simon's bad humour anymore.
Simon didn't mind either, saying, "I discussed this with Barry Diller last time. The basic strategy for these two shows is that we get the profit, and the network gets the ratings".
"But we still can't prove that 'Survivor' and 'Big Brother' can achieve the same success as 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'"
"So, we just have to take a gamble", Simon shrugged, saying, "If the network doesn't even have that much courage, then it's not worth discussing".
After they finished talking, they were about to get up and get busy, when Amy suddenly remembered something and said, "Simon, July is almost here, and we should be preparing for next year's film projects".
"I know that too", Simon spread his hands and said, "But, do you have time recently?"
"No".
Amy shook her head and glanced at Simon; he clearly didn't either.
Studios usually start preparing for the next year's film projects a year in advance.
If it's a blockbuster film, production often begins in the second half of the year.
However, Daenerys Entertainment's current production schedule, not counting 'Batman', at most might only extend to next year's Easter.
Moreover, it basically consists of Kathryn's 'Blue Steel' and two low-budget independent films from Sundance, 'Metropolitan' and 'Some Girls'.
These films clearly don't have much commercial appeal.
However, although the company's scale has been continuously expanding, everyone on the current projects is incredibly busy and simply cannot spare the time to consider next year.
Team building takes time, and Simon can't just hire random people and throw potentially blockbuster projects at them.
He can't be as hands-on with everything as he was with the initial 'Run Lola Run'; being too eager will only lead to failure.
Ultimately, Daenerys Entertainment's strength is still too weak.
Simon couldn't help but want to acquire New World Entertainment as soon as possible.
After all, in addition to Marvel, which he absolutely had to get, New World Entertainment also had a decent film and television production and distribution team.
Even if this team couldn't reach a first-class standard, it was definitely much more reliable than a makeshift team Simon would temporarily hire.
Thinking this, Simon still said to Amy, "How about this: you see if there are any good projects in Hollywood recently. If possible, we can participate in the investment".
'When Harry Met Sally' and 'Pulp Fiction' both had long payback periods, and Amy Pascal had been carefully monitoring the company's cash flow.
Now, with the sudden emergence of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' these problems were immediately resolved.
Whether it's sponsorship fees from advertisers or advance deposits from ABC Television, both can bring a large sum of cash to Daenerys Entertainment in a short period of time.
If it weren't for this, Amy wouldn't have brought this up to Simon temporarily.
With such a large operation for a small company, Amy originally just wanted to focus on completing all the projects at hand.
Next year's matters would have to wait until next year.
Getting up and walking out of the audition room with Simon, Amy nodded and said, "I'll keep an eye out".